Five new seabirds – including a giant gull called the “pirate of the seas” – have been added to the list of UK seabirds at risk, joining the puffin and the kittiwake.
The update, carried out by a coalition of bird conservation organisations, was published in the journal British Birds on Monday.
They are the great black-backed gull, great skua, Leach’s storm petrel, common gull and Arctic tern.
They join five threatened seabird species already on the red list – the kittiwake, herring gull, roseate tern, Arctic skua and puffin.
It means that of the 26 seabirds that breed on the UK’s coastlines and islands, 10 are now on the list.
Apart from two species found to be no longer breeding in the UK, the seabirds were categorised as red, amber or green depending on how threatened they were considered to be.
In total, 73 out of of 245 regularly occurring bird species in the UK are nowon the red list – equating to per cent.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is calling for urgent government action to address “this dire situation”.
“As an island nation, it is perhaps not surprising that we are globally important for seabird populations,” RSPB global conservation director Katie-jo Luxton said.
“But what has really shocked us is the sheer number of our seabird species now on the red list.”
Which seabirds have been added to the red list?
Great black-backed gull
It has a distinctive black marking shrouding its wingspan and marked by its powerful yellow beak with a crimson spot. It nests on coasts, clifftops, roofs and islands. It is described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as “the king of the Atlantic waterfront”, it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger.
Great skua
Also known as the pirate of the seas, this bird has been badly affected by avian flu, so has now been added to the list of species most in need of conservation. It is known to badger other birds in an attempt to steal their meal, and is roughly the size of a herring gull with mottled brown feathers.
Leach’s storm petrel
One of the more elusive seabirds around, the petrel nests offshore on islands particularly on the north-west coast of Scotland.
Named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach, the birds are larger than many of their seabird friends. They are rarely seen during the breeding season and are known to return to remote islands at night.
Common gull
Despite the name, the common gull is rarer that you would think. It nests around lakes specifically in the north of England and Scotland.
Arctic tern
Idenifiable by its white feathers, black topped head, bright beak and forked tail,the Arctic tern breeds mainly in the north of the UK – but undertakes a marathon journey to the Antarctic in winter. They can sometimes be seen inland during migration. They can often reach up to 50 years of age.
Which other seabirds are on the red list?
Five other seabirds were already on the list – the puffin, kittiwake, herring gull, roseate tern and Arctic skua.
Perhaps the most iconic is the puffin. Their brightly-coloured beak has made them many people’s favourite with their red and black eye-markings and bright orange legs.
Kittiwakes are similar in appearance to the common gull. They have a grey back with white underneath and look as if they have been “dipped in ink”. Their population decline has been put down in part to the decline of sandeels – source of food for the species.
The herring gull has declined by 60 per cent since 1986. They have been known to scavenge and can be spotted on landfill sites.
In 2022, 154 pairs of roseate terns nested on the RSPB’s Coquet island bird sanctuary off the Northumberland coast, but unfortunately the population was ravaged by bird flu (HPAI). The birds are similar in size to a common tern but underbelly of adults turns pink in the summer, marking them from their common counterparts.
What is the full list of UK bird species at risk?
1. Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
2. Leach’s storm petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous)
3. Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
4. Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
5. Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)
6. Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
7. Puffin (Fratercula arctica)
8. European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
9. Willow Tit (Poecile montanus)
10. Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix)
11. Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra)
12. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)
13. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
14. Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
15. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
16. Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
17. Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
18. Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
19. Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
20. Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
21. Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
22. Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)
23. Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret)
24. Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
25. Merlin (Falco columbarius)
26. Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
27. Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
28. White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
29. Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)
30. Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
31. Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris)
32. Scaup (Aythya marila)
33. Pochard (Aythya ferina)
34. Garganey (Spatula querquedula)
35. Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)
36. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)
37. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
38. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
39. Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)
40. Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
41. Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus)
42. Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
43. Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
44. Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
45. Twite (Linaria flavirostris)
46. Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus)
47. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
48. Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)
49. Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
50. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
51. Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
52. Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
53. Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
54. Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor)
55. Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
56. Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)
57. Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
58. Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
59. Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)
60. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)
61. Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
62. Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
63. Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
64. Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima)
65. Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
66. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
67. Temminck’s Stint (Calidris temminckii)
68. Little Stint (Calidris minuta)
69. Great Skua (Stercorarius skua)
70. Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus)
71. Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)
72. Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)
73. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)